The Spy who loved me.
So, farewell, Sir Roger Moore. He lived to a very ripe old age of 89. He was the fourth actor to portray James Bond, 007 on film. (We are of course including the 1 appearance by David Niven in 1976: Casino Royale, spoof. It's awful by the way).
After Connery and then of course, George Lazenby...(What do you mean you've forgotten George Lazenby??)...Following on from the utter car crash that turned out to be, 'On her majesty's secret service' there was a vacancy for the role of James Bond. The Producer, Albert R. Broccoli - interestingly diversion here; one quiz night about 20yrs ago we had a question; which vegetable do you associate with James Bond? The answer, obviously, is Broccoli. I was the ONLY ONE who got the question right - however, they had a short list; Jeremy Brett, Michael Billington and Julian Glover...and one, Roger Moore! At the time famous for, The Persuaders and, more famously, he was also, The Saint.
Roger Moore became Bond and he stayed Bond for the 12 years from 1973 to 1985 in which time he made 7 movies. He was, essentially, the Bond I grew up with as his films appeared on Tele at the time I was starting to get into Bond. Moore's films haven't aged well in todays society they would not have been made . Yet, he remains hugely popular as Bond. He certainly bought a level of humour to the role. Far too much humour for my liking though.
He is though the longest serving Bond and, incredibly, his Bond films grossed over a Billion Dollars at the box office. He was very well played for it too! His first film, Live and Let die (also his best film) paid him £180k (which in 1973 I presume was an incredible amount of money!). By the time he completed his last film, A view to Kill, in 1985 he was being paid £5m (Which, again, I presume was an incredible amount of money!). In total he is rumoured to have earned over £13m from his appearances as Bond (Which, again, from 1973 to 1985 was an incredible amount of money).
He obviously made other films. So now we come to crunch. My favourite film of his was not a Bond film at all. It was a film called, 'North Sea Hijack' (1980). Roger Moore portrays a man called, Rufus Excalibur Ffolkes (yes, 2, f's) - a marine counter terrorist expert who has to defeat a group of terrorists who have taken over a north sea oil rig. It's brilliant fun. It was Moore's attempt to escape the typecasting from the decade or so of Bond.
It worked for me.
So, he may not have been my Bond, but he is a majority of other peoples favourite Bond.
Roger Moore's favourite Bond, if it helps, was Timothy Dalton...(That's mine too). So we do share something in common.
If you are interested, here is the following incomes;
Sean Connery - 7 films = £6.7m (£0.9 av per film)
George Lazenbury - 1 film = £0.1m
Roger Moore - 7 films = £13m (£2m)
Timothy Dalton - 2 films = £8m (£4m)
Pierce Brosnan - 4 films = £41m (£10m)
Daniel Craig - 4 films = £69m (£17.25m)
As you can see. The cost has gone up. If it helps with Daniel Craig then the last of those 4 films, Spectre, saw him receive £39m!!! There's money in the British Secret Service, obviously!
After Connery and then of course, George Lazenby...(What do you mean you've forgotten George Lazenby??)...Following on from the utter car crash that turned out to be, 'On her majesty's secret service' there was a vacancy for the role of James Bond. The Producer, Albert R. Broccoli - interestingly diversion here; one quiz night about 20yrs ago we had a question; which vegetable do you associate with James Bond? The answer, obviously, is Broccoli. I was the ONLY ONE who got the question right - however, they had a short list; Jeremy Brett, Michael Billington and Julian Glover...and one, Roger Moore! At the time famous for, The Persuaders and, more famously, he was also, The Saint.
Roger Moore became Bond and he stayed Bond for the 12 years from 1973 to 1985 in which time he made 7 movies. He was, essentially, the Bond I grew up with as his films appeared on Tele at the time I was starting to get into Bond. Moore's films haven't aged well in todays society they would not have been made . Yet, he remains hugely popular as Bond. He certainly bought a level of humour to the role. Far too much humour for my liking though.
He is though the longest serving Bond and, incredibly, his Bond films grossed over a Billion Dollars at the box office. He was very well played for it too! His first film, Live and Let die (also his best film) paid him £180k (which in 1973 I presume was an incredible amount of money!). By the time he completed his last film, A view to Kill, in 1985 he was being paid £5m (Which, again, I presume was an incredible amount of money!). In total he is rumoured to have earned over £13m from his appearances as Bond (Which, again, from 1973 to 1985 was an incredible amount of money).
He obviously made other films. So now we come to crunch. My favourite film of his was not a Bond film at all. It was a film called, 'North Sea Hijack' (1980). Roger Moore portrays a man called, Rufus Excalibur Ffolkes (yes, 2, f's) - a marine counter terrorist expert who has to defeat a group of terrorists who have taken over a north sea oil rig. It's brilliant fun. It was Moore's attempt to escape the typecasting from the decade or so of Bond.
It worked for me.
So, he may not have been my Bond, but he is a majority of other peoples favourite Bond.
Roger Moore's favourite Bond, if it helps, was Timothy Dalton...(That's mine too). So we do share something in common.
If you are interested, here is the following incomes;
Sean Connery - 7 films = £6.7m (£0.9 av per film)
George Lazenbury - 1 film = £0.1m
Roger Moore - 7 films = £13m (£2m)
Timothy Dalton - 2 films = £8m (£4m)
Pierce Brosnan - 4 films = £41m (£10m)
Daniel Craig - 4 films = £69m (£17.25m)
As you can see. The cost has gone up. If it helps with Daniel Craig then the last of those 4 films, Spectre, saw him receive £39m!!! There's money in the British Secret Service, obviously!
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